Protecting aqueous systems from microbial contamination is critical to the success of many industrial processes, including oil or natural gas production operations. In oil and gas operations, microorganism contamination from both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria can cause serious problems such as reservoir souring (mainly caused by anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB)), microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) on metal surfaces of equipment and pipelines, and degradation of polymer additives.
Various aldehyde compounds, including formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and glyoxal, are known antimicrobials that are used to control the growth of microorganisms in aqueous systems and fluids, including those found in oil and gas operations. The materials, however, are susceptible to a number of drawbacks. For instance, they can degrade over time at the elevated temperatures often encountered in the oil and gas production environment. The materials can also be inactivated by other common oilfield chemicals such as bisulfite salts and amines. These conditions can leave oilfield infrastructure (wells, pipelines, etc.) and formations susceptible to microbial fouling.
It would be an advance in the art if new antimicrobial systems, which provided improved thermal and chemical stability, were developed.